Moneycontrol PRO
HomeNewsBusinessAviation ministry seeks industry feedback to amend slot allocation guidelines

Aviation ministry seeks industry feedback to amend slot allocation guidelines

As part of the new proposal, airport slots will be reallocated every 'season' or every six months to airlines, departing from the current practice of reviewing it after a year.

November 17, 2022 / 18:53 IST
The new facility offers exclusive city side car parking and convenient access to the city. The terminal can handle over 50 passengers every hour. (Image: Delhi Airport)

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has invited comments from the aviation industry in India till November 28 over its proposal to amend the Slot Allocation Guidelines – 2013, a notification issued by the ministry stated.

As part of the notification, the ministry is looking to use "previous season" instead of "previous equivalent season" when allocating slots to airlines in India.

What this means is that domestic airlines in India will lose their allocated slots at airports if they are not able to fulfill the 80 percent criteria to operate on those slots.

Airlines can currently claim a right to a slot if they can maintain slot adherence yearly, i.e. they run at least 80 percent of the departures committed to the regulator.

As part of the new proposal, airport slots will be reallocated every 'season' or every six months to airlines, departing from the current practice of reviewing it after a year.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

View more
How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

View more
Show

A slot is a permission given by a coordinator for a planned operation to use the full range of airport infrastructure necessary to arrive or depart at an airport on a specific date and time.

The issue of slot allocation is being addressed at a time when major airlines in India are struggling to operate 100 percent of their fleet due to delay in deliveries of engines by Pratt & Whitney.

IndiGo, GoFIRST, and SpiceJet have been forced to ground some of their fleet in India over the last six months.

Aviation consultancy firm Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA) on November 1 said that more than 75 planes of the Indian carriers have been grounded due to maintenance and engine-related issues.

These planes account for around 10-12 percent of the Indian fleet. According to a report, the planes are grounded due to maintenance or engine-related issues.

Last year, CAPA said that current slot allocation systems at Indian airports are not aligned with global best practices and there is an urgent need for strong regulation.

In its proposal, CAPA had said that India should allow secondary trading of slots, and airlines would be able to monetise slots to improve liquidity, especially during crises to avert failures.

Moneycontrol News
first published: Nov 17, 2022 06:52 pm

Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!

Subscribe to Tech Newsletters

  • On Saturdays

    Find the best of Al News in one place, specially curated for you every weekend.

  • Daily-Weekdays

    Stay on top of the latest tech trends and biggest startup news.

Advisory Alert: It has come to our attention that certain individuals are representing themselves as affiliates of Moneycontrol and soliciting funds on the false promise of assured returns on their investments. We wish to reiterate that Moneycontrol does not solicit funds from investors and neither does it promise any assured returns. In case you are approached by anyone making such claims, please write to us at grievanceofficer@nw18.com or call on 02268882347